Machu Picchu

---

Not only will I matchyou, I'll beatyou. Machu Picchu...geddit?

It is barely worth mentioning the beginning of our Machu Picchu day. We got up at 05:00, took the train, pulled in at Aguas Calientes and took the bus to the top. As we ascended, the view grew ever better. The valley floor is at 2,000m, and Machu Picchu sits at 2,400m. It looks much higher than 400m; the river is a thin streak amongst the green trees below.



I don't have, as you may have fathomed, a spiritual bent. I can see why the Inca thought of it as a powerful place, however. Mountain tops are where they believed some of their gods lived, and there are plenty of those around. Further, the heights are literally closer to their chief god: the sun. Our first view of Machu Picchu was the terraces of the eastern agricultural section as we rounded the last bend in the winding road to the top. It was already clear that this place was something special; the quality of the stonework was much higher than other terraces, still in place after 500 years. Some buildings have been restored there too, and you begin to feel how incredible it must have been to live here.



Some information about Machu Picchu, gleaned from wikipedia and elsewhere. The Urabamba river runs on three sides around the hill. Aside from the main approach up the side not covered by river, there was a rear entrance to Machu Picchu, defended by a bridge of tree trunks. The trunks could be retracted or thrown loose, denying the rear to aggressors. Despite the ease of defence, Machu Pichhu was not a fortress. Agricultural and religious functions carried on inside, as well as military. Most archaeologists believe Machu Picchu to have been a holiday home for Patchacuti, an early Sapa Inca ('one and only Inca', title for leaders of Tetsuwintuyo; the name Inca was used by the Spanish, and actually only referred to the elite ruling family). The site was never discovered by the Spanish conquistadores, so it is not certain as to why it was totally abandoned. A smallpox epidemic may have destroyed the population. Most likely, however, the site could not have existed alone. Studies show that the agricultural terraces were not sufficient to supply the population. When other Inca cities were conquered or destroyed, Machu Picchu was left empty. American Exlorer Hiram Bingham, a Yale graduate, "discovered" Machu Picchu in 1911; only two farming families were found to be living there, and they probably happened on the site long after the Inca empire was a faded memory. Several people had visited and documented the existence of Machu Picchu before Bingham; he also went on to steal over 40,000 relics from the site, many of which are still at Yale University. Still, the luxury train to Machu Picchu is named after him.



We entered the park, and stopped to pick up a map and get the novelty passport stamp, then ascended the nearby terraces overlooking the site. The pictures are great from there early in the morning, before the tour groups show up. Ordinarily, there would already be people there coming off the Inca trail, but the trail is closed in February so it was rtelatively quiet. We moved down along the western section; the view at this point was spectacular. The mountains to the west completely dominate the horizon, some nearer hills like great cone shaped rocks in the foreground. The powerful river surges along the valley floor, the barely audible from up on the hill. Instead of entering the site proper, we first took the 30 minute detour to see the tree trunk Inca bridge. You used to be allowed to cross the bridge...until someone fell to their doom. Now, you can approach and take pictures. Beneath where the trunks lie, the Inca built a supporting structure and steps. How they got the stones onto the near vertical surface and found sound foundations for them - foundations that lasted over 500 years - I don't know. We returned to the main site and walked north, along the west side.



Immiediately apparent is the scale of the terraces. There are some broken, unrestored terraces on the opposite hills, but nothing so grand. By installing the terraces, the Inca increased growing surface, reduced the risk of landslides, and die to varying altitudes, created microclimates capable of growing a wide variety of crops.



We passed through the 'main gate', about the size of a modern doorway, into the western urban zone. This is where info becomes a little sparse. There were large and small dwellings, featuring the inward pointing windows and mortar free construction that made the site so earthquake resistant. Some of the houses were more slapdash, using mortar and smaller stones. These have been the focus of reconstruction efforts; some rooves have been thatched, to show how they would have looked.



Near these dwellings was a circle of stones on sunken ground, perhaps a ceremonial bath. Further north, still on the west side, we entered an astroligical building. The stone in this building pointed to the sunrise on winter solstice; the Inca believed the stone kept the sun on course. When we emerged from there, we could see a large, grassy main square, and most of the lower, eastern side of the complex. We headed further north, through to the entrance to Huaynapicchu. Huaynapicchu (or Waynapicchu) is a tall, thin and forbidding mountain overlooking Machu Picchu. For an extra fee, you can climb it. We had booked to do so, and set about it. It was tough going; lack of exercise and thin atmosphere. The Inca trail here makes it much easier than simply climbing rock - it's mostly large stairs - but much of it is rough and degraded. Hard work pays off though (usually), and when we reached the terraces near the top, our view of Machu Picchu was incredible. We could see the whole thing, and the valleys and mountains around. Another surge of effort, and we reached the top. Through a narrow tunnel, and up some steep, tiny steps, there are large rocks to sit on. Now THAT was a view, almost as high as the surrounding mountains. We sat on a flat rock, near a cool little lizard, and ate sandwiches, with probably the best lunchtime view anyone in the world had that day.



Our descent was markedly faster than our ascent. In total, we took 2 hours, including lunch and photos. When we got back down, the rain descended. The clouds struggling to crest the mountains made for dramatic landscape and pictures. We headed in the opposite direction from earlier, south along the east of Machu Picchu. The buildings were larger here, and located near to the great temple of the sun, an ellipse of large stones atop a huge natural rock. There was more of interest in this area, including a large rock placed in the line of sight of one of the distant mountains. If you stand in the correct place, its shape resembles that of the mountain top beyond. There was the temple of three windows, which also houses a rock shaped like a distant mountain. There are more great terraces to the south east, beyond the urban area. Storehouses in that area have been restored and thatched. We passed by condor rock - which to my mind looks nothing like a condor, perhaps due to erosion. We also admired the tiny dots moving on Huaynapicchu, up where we had been a short time earlier.



We took shelter from the rain for a bit, in what we overheard to have been the water temple. To us, most importantly, it had a roof. I fear we failed to appreciate many of the functions of buildings, but the guides are overpriced and might be lying to make a good story anyway. The rain eased a little, and the sun put in an appearance, so we made another loop of Machu Picchu. Largely, we covered the same ground, taking better pictures where the crowds had dissipated due to the rain. We made a few new discoveries; the east side, particularly, is labrynthine. One spectacular ruin we had only glimpsed the last time was the Inca's House. This is where Patchacuti would have resided when visiting. The stonework is the finest at Machu Picchu. They say you couldn't fit a blade of grass between the stones. They are neat, tidy and clearly the work of masters. The house is large, with several rooms, unlike the common single room chambers. Inside the front door, a step down to the floor is blue-green stone. It is pretty badly eroded, but the smoothness and colours are remarkeable, and clearly denote the importance of this dwelling.



Finally, after 6 hours at the site, we ran out of water. The bottles outside were 8 soles. Fuck that. We took stock, and reckoned we had seen as much as we were likely too, without long treks to outlying ruins. We took the bus down to Aguas Calientes - which is an awful place. Nothing coupld ruin the Machu Picchu, but still: shithole. It grew up around the train station, and is composed of overpriced...well, everything. The only good value in the place is the juice bar upstairs in the market: 5 soles for 1 litre of fresh fruit juice. We went to a restaurant, where they tried to rip us off - the bill should have been 40 soles, and they asked for 52. The guy claimed that he earned no wages, and only got tips. Lies. Even if it had been true, trying to tack it onto the bill was a scummy act. If you got to Machu Picchu, bring food and water, and don't sully your day by staying more than a few seconds in Aguas.



We took the train back to Ollantaytambo at 18:45; as in the morning, we had snacks and tea provided. We walked past the screaming mob of taxi drivers at the train station, and entered a collectivo back to Cuzco - I think it was the same driver that brought us to Ollanta, a solid, careful driver. We were in our room in Turistico Recoleta at 22:30; not bad at all. After a long, incredible yet tiring day, we fell into bed and slept a long, deep sleep.

---